


pay no mind to the demons

by destiny919



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe Friendship, Autistic Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gen, Meltdown, Nino Lahiffe Is a Good Bro, Prompt Fic, Sensory Overload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destiny919/pseuds/destiny919
Summary: He can't do anything. He can't even think, not over the cacophony in his ears and the places on his body where he can still feel pins poking him even if he's no longer dressed for the runway, or the way his nose burns from hairspray and his eyes water from the lights and the way his skin is peeling back from his bones -He calls Nino.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, background Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	pay no mind to the demons

**Author's Note:**

> prompted by MagicalSpaceDragon to write about autistic adrien and nino actually being Good about it
> 
> title from home by philip philips

Fashion shows are always loud, and crowded, and hot, and full of people touching him like he has no nerve endings in his body. Outside on the catwalk, everything is smooth and elegant, sharp and precise. Backstage is a nightmare, and tonight Adrien desperately,  _ desperately _ wants to wake up. 

He wants to cover his ears and scream loud enough to drown it all out, or better yet make everything  _ stop  _ \- Gabriel Agreste's perfect son having a public meltdown might be enough of a shock to make that happen - but his father is here in spirit if not in body, and Adrien can't do that. He can't do anything. He can't even think, not over the cacophony in his ears and the places on his body where he can still feel pins poking him even if he's no longer dressed for the runway, or the way his nose burns from hairspray and his eyes water from the lights and the way his skin is peeling back from his bones -

He calls Nino.

"Hey, dude," Nino says happily, picking up on barely the second ring. "I thought you were at a show all evening?"

"I - I am," Adrien says, voice shaking. "But I'm backstage now and I - I - I," his voice stutters like a record skipping. 

"Okay," Nino says. "Do you have your headphones?"

"No." He gulps. "Just earbuds, and they're - they're not -"

"Would they be at all helpful anyway?"

Adrien shakes his head no, fully aware Nino can't see him, but unable to articulate that single syllable. One of the assistants has started crying noisily, and he should be sympathetic, he knows how much pressure she must be under, he should try to help, but he can't move from this spot or else he's going to come apart at the seams, just like that tunic that just got torn open and made a sound just like steel being shredded by an akuma -

"There's nowhere quieter?" Nino asks. "Even some corner?"

"Nn. No," Adrien manages. "I - I can't leave." He can't even start crying like the assistant. This whole time he's kept up his look of pleasant detachment. If anyone looked at him now they'd probably think he was making lunch plans for next week, not a desperate plea for help. And that can't change, because - "Nathalie's watching."

"Shit -" Nino must put his phone down, but Adrien can still hear something that sounds like  _ "Nasty, twisted bitch..."  _ And then he's back. "Okay. How about we just talk? Or I talk, if you can't. Focus on me instead of all that."

"Yeah," Adrien breathes. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Nino says, like he really means it. And he does. This is far from the first time. "So did I ever get to tell you what happened on Thursday while you were at that photoshoot?"

"No," Adrien says, still sounding a little strangled. "You - you were going to last night, but Nathalie interrupted."

"Of course she did," Nino says flatly. "So Kim made a bet with Alix that he could do a longer headstand, right? And of course they decided to do them on top of Madame Bustier's desk and not, like, against a wall, or at least on solid ground."

"Obviously," Adrien says. 

"And somehow Marinette ended up spotting for them both -"

Adrien blinks, and sits up a little straighter. Which is kind of a feat, because in addition to his poker face he's also been maintaining his perfect posture. "She did? How?"

"I dunno, how does Marinette get into half the shit she does?" He has a point. "Predictably, Alix lasted like twice as long as Kim, but we barely noticed, because when Kim went down it was like a ton of bricks, you know he had another massive growth spurt recently -"

"Yeah." Kim was now roughly the appropriate size and shape to play American football. Adrien wasn't far behind him height-wise, but Kim was about three of him in width. That wasn't exactly saying much, though. 

"And the thing is - Marinette  _ caught  _ him."

"What?" Adrien exclaims, forgetting himself just long enough for a makeup artist to glance his way. "Was she okay?" he demands anyway. Surely Nino would have told him right away if Marinette had been hurt, she's his - his -

"That's the thing!" Nino says. "She was  _ fine! _ Tiny Mari, five feet tall and skinnier than you, actually  _ caught him.  _ Not, tried to catch him and ended up squished by two hundred pounds of overconfident gay jock, caught him and  _ supported his weight!  _ Like it was nothing! She held him up long enough to declare Alix the winner!"

"Wow," Adrien breathes. "Like an everyday -"

"Your everyday Ladybug, yeah, I know," Nino says. "Keep calling her that and we're gonna have to revisit some things vis a vis who you're in love with."

"I can't help it if Marinette is amazing," Adrien says reasonably. 

"Sure you can't," Nino says. "Next time this happens I'm just gonna go straight to talking about Marinette and you'll be completely distracted from everything else around you immediately."

He can't deny that might work. Adrien is feeling less overwhelmed now already. He's still flinching every time a rack falls over or something, but it's better. Focusing on Nino helps. Focusing on Marinette helps. 

His friends help.


End file.
